There are many pet toys and animal training devices that have been used in the past to entice interaction with the device including for play training and the like. In the past, most, if not all, of these devices are heavy, bulky, breakdown, or require maintenance and/or refilling, which has led to limited commercial acceptance.
Toys for use by domestic animals are well known in the art. Such toys may be intended purely for the entertainment purpose of the animal, or they may include secondary functions, such as providing a means of exercise, promoting oral health, or providing a scratching outlet. These pet toys are often round or curved in shape to promote mobility of the toy, and in turn allowing the pet to move and chase after the toy during play. This movement provides an opportunity for exercise that is particularly important in domestic animals that are confined to living indoors.
Other toys promote interaction between the toy and the pet by utilizing a pet attractant in combination with the toy. Such attractants may include a piece of food lodged within the center of the toy, a scent imparted onto the toy, an outer surface of stimulating bright colors, or even constructing the toy out of a consumable material. All of these additional pet attractants offer additional means for stimulating the pet during play, and thereby increase the degree of both entertainment and beneficial exercise of the pet.
In toys intended for use by domestic cats, their use as a scratching device is also important. Providing a scratching outlet is particularly useful for cats who have not been declawed, and who may otherwise cause unwanted damage to home furnishings. Accordingly, such toys must provide an exterior surface that promotes scratching, while also withstanding the force of scratching. Similarly, those toys designed to be bitten or chewed must be made of a material of significant strength, capable of withstanding the forces applied to it.
As previously indicated, some toys may also release a treat for the animal. Catnip is one such treat, which is typically included with dispensing toys for domestic cats. The scent of catnip has been shown to attract and excite cats, and therefore is particularly well suited for use in conjunction with cat toys. However, in order for the catnip to be effective, its scent must be able to emanate from the toy. To this end, traditional catnip toys included porous cloth packets filled with catnip. While such cloth allowed the scent of catnip to diffuse through the cloth layer, the cloth structure was susceptible to tearing and breaking in response to the prolonged use of cat biting and scratching.
What is needed is a simple, economical, durable and disposable device with which an animal, such as a domestic animal, interacts that also dispenses material. What is also needed is a material dispensing device with which an animal interacts by playing with the device or by being trained using the device.